5. The Han Solo Trilogy (The Paradise Snare, The Hutt Gambit, Rebel Dawn)
We all know Han as the cool smuggler who joined the Rebellion with some ambivalence at first, but eventually became one of its greatest heroes. The question is, what was he doing in the years prior to meeting that young farm boy and old wizard in the Mos Eisely cantina? "The Han Solo Trilogy" tells gives us the background on Han in his formative years. A young pickpocket on the fringe of society, Hana manages to escape his life of thievery and becomes a pilot. As the books progress, we see him join the Imperial Navy, leave after learning the full extent of the atrocities the Empire has committed, and eventually take on his role as smuggler. We also learn how he and Chewbacca met and formed one of science fiction's greatest duos. Han is one of those characters that has so much backstory that it would have been impossible to explain it in the movies. These books detail all the shenanigans he got into, and trust me, they are very cool. As a side note, there was a rumor several months ago that one of the stand-alone Star Wars film might be about a young Han Solo. Maybe the movie might be based on these books?